Hi everybody, I've been doing a lot of research on moving to Finland, but based on a lot of answers I've seen here, it seems like unless you are practically invited to live there, then you can't get in. I'm a 20 year old U.S. citizen studying for a Bachelor's in engineering. I have a girlfriend who lives in Finland, but we have never lived together except for 2 weeks when I visited her. I'm trying to learn Finnish online, but it's slow going as there aren't really any opportunities to actually use it. I've looked at the requirements for all of the residence permits, but it doesn't seem like any of them actually apply to me. I know finding a job without being there is nearly impossible, and most officials wouldn't call what my girlfriend and I have a "stable relationship" because we can't prove that we have spent any time together. That really only leaves the option of a student residency permit, but finding Bachelor's programs taught in English is nearly as difficult as finding a job, let alone being able to cover the tuition costs. I really don't know what to do, and it seems like there isn't really any way to move there unless you're originally from there.

Best Way To Apply For Residence Permit?

jbenson wrote:Hi everybody, I've been doing a lot of research on moving to Finland, but based on a lot of answers I've seen here, it seems like unless you are practically invited to live there, then you can't get in. I'm a 20 year old U.S. citizen studying for a Bachelor's in engineering. I have a girlfriend who lives in Finland, but we have never lived together except for 2 weeks when I visited her. I'm trying to learn Finnish online, but it's slow going as there aren't really any opportunities to actually use it. I've looked at the requirements for all of the residence permits, but it doesn't seem like any of them actually apply to me. I know finding a job without being there is nearly impossible, and most officials wouldn't call what my girlfriend and I have a "stable relationship" because we can't prove that we have spent any time together. That really only leaves the option of a student residency permit, but finding Bachelor's programs taught in English is nearly as difficult as finding a job, let alone being able to cover the tuition costs. I really don't know what to do, and it seems like there isn't really any way to move there unless you're originally from there.

Putting a ring on her finger makes the process much easier.
On the other hand the job problem doesn't disappears. So prepare yourself for a life as staying at home dad.

rinso wrote:Putting a ring on her finger makes the process much easier.
On the other hand the job problem doesn't disappears. So prepare yourself for a life as staying at home dad.

We were looking at the marriage option, but it seems like even if we do that we have to prove that we've lived together for a while. And yeah, the job issue will be there for a while, at least until I can get better at the language, which is just not going to happen unless I actually use it on a regular basis other than just doing the same exercises over and over that my online course gives me.

There are two options but it will depend on how serious your relationship with your girlfriend is. If you love her enough to move to Finland to be with her, why don't you consider getting engaged/married?
I'm not saying that one should get married JUST in order to be able to move to a country. Maybe your gf could visit you in US, and live with you for awhile there, and if you find out that you two are meant to be, then you could get married and apply for a residency permit based on the family ties.
Second option: why doesn't she move to US instead?
I'm so far from being an expert on these stuff but I think these could be solutions.
Good luck anyway

Peach7 wrote:There are two options but it will depend on how serious your relationship with your girlfriend is. If you love her enough to move to Finland to be with her, why don't you consider getting engaged/married?
I'm not saying that one should get married JUST in order to be able to move to a country. Maybe your gf could visit you in US, and live with you for awhile there, and if you find out that you two are meant to be, then you could get married and apply for a residency permit based on the family ties.
Second option: why doesn't she move to US instead?
I'm so far from being an expert on these stuff but I think these could be solutions.
Good luck anyway

We have considered the marriage option, but we think it's kind of too early to jump into that. She could move to the U.S. but she is so far along in her studies it really wouldn't make sense.

Engaged isn't generally enough. But married removes the onus on proving a two-year relationship.

Do yourself a favour and sit tight till she finishes her studies, then figure out whether you can get her to the USA instead, even if it's ridiculously difficult. Far, far more Finns live there than Americans living in Finland and there's a very good reason. UK, US, Aussie, New Zealanders, South Africans etc who come here without secure skilled work tend to sort of belly-flop and then move back out of Finland after a few years of burning through savings, failing at language, crying at walls and fighting with their partners. I've met so, so many of them, some are stay-at-home-parents, some still have ideals to tackle the language, but by and large they (we) flail and are not thrilled with the lives they're stuck in, because "doing it for the kids/wife" wears thin when your own life sort of stands still for years on end. Others in here will tell you that the Finnish partner gets frustrated too I have no experience with Finnish wives myself, but if you believe the hype they start to revert back to being Finnish Wives, ie, their friends get in their ears about the husband who doesn't earn, and the wife starts to ask pointed questions about the relationship. Stressful to say the least.

There are a bunch of Bachelor programs here in English (particularly check out universities of applied sciences) but to be candid there are not very many that are particularly specialised or useful for getting work in Finland unless you also have Finnish, plus some additional skillset. Nor are you likely to master the language during the time of the degree, and yes, the fees will hurt.

On the other hand your girlfriend will have qualifications, can speak English and will be far more likely to have a job and career in the USA than you will here. Realism is horrible, but it'll save you from serious heartache 99 times out of 100.

It seems that you need to wait until one of you graduates. You can then enrol to a Master course (or get a job, if possible) here or she can look for options there. Even if you could move here without a job or study place I'm not sure that would make sense in the long term prospects would be. Even if you were awfully cute & sexy the chances are neither one of you are interested of you as a trophy husband without anything sensible to do.

just a piece of advice though: Don't burn your all bridges in US for the sake of relationship. Countless examples where guy moves to Finland for lady, got married, guy have long struggle with career, lady decided to change her mind after a few years and guy got screwed as his residence permit was due to family ties. And if your sperms knocked her up then forget your career and life. Use search here.
In comparison, you may have a lot more career opportunities in US than in Finland.

Oombongo wrote:Countless examples where guy moves to Finland for lady, got married, guy have long struggle with career, lady decided to change her mind after a few years and guy got screwed as his residence permit was due to family ties.

Many of these examples can be found of people coming to this forum to talk about it. In my time here, I remember a few, both men and women, who were in this situation.

Every f*cking case is unique. You can't measure the result of your application based on arbitrary anecdotes online. Stop being a moron!